'Protect, extend, and evolve'

India is equally important for Oracle as a market, a development base and a country that houses some of its most successful partnerships.

What is the blueprint for Oracle's aggressive acquisition strategy?Acquisitions at Oracle happen for two reasons - either to expand the application footprint by getting new products into its fold or to cement its presence in various verticals. While PeopleSoft and iflex were product-driven acquisitions, others like Retek, ProfitLogic, G-Log, TimesTen were done with an eye on specific sectors.

The bid for Siebel is aimed at strengthening our presence in the customer relationship management space.

No doubt acquisitions have given Oracle an integrated business suite but with such a diverse portfolio, where is the company headed?At Oracle, the catchwords today are -- protect, extend and evolve. We are committed to protect the IT investments of all the customers who are using products of companies that are now under our fold. Not just that, we will keep releasing timely upgrades of the same products, giving the customers the option to continue using the products they are comfortable with.

Finally, we will stay at the cutting edge of tech nology and innovate but at a measured pace so as not to destabilise the operations of our customers and partners.

What does the future hold for the Oracle-i-flex partnership?Oracle has acquired Citigroup Venture Capital International's 41 per cent ownership stake in iflex Solutions. As required by Indian law, we have made an open offer to purchase an additional 20 per cent of the shares outstanding from the remaining shareholders.

Once the transaction closes, we intend to introduce i-flex to a very large number of banking customers globally.

Oracle is banking on India's potential as a huge market. Where does the confidence stem from?Indian companies are becoming a part of the global supply chain. As the compliance norms get stringent with Basel II for the banking sector or Clause 49 by SEBI in India, the need for timely and accurate information is putting pressure on companies to invest in information technology. The need for a better government-citizen interface is pushing e-governance projects to take off sooner than later.

Oracle India seems to have transformed itself from being just a dormant market to a showcase of sorts?The biggest change that has happened in India is that it has become an exporter of concepts and ideas.

The country has become an ideal proving and testing ground for global marketers. If you can service the Indian telecom sector with millions of subscribers, or Indian banks with clientele running into millions, you can succeed in any other market across the globe.